Contents

Preface

1. Introduction: The Paradox of Excess and Deprivation

2. Paying for Health Care

3. Access to Health Care

4. Reimbursing Health Care Providers

5. How Health Care Is Organized—I: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Care

6. How Health Care Is Organized—II: Health Delivery Systems

7. The Health Care Workforce and the Education of Health Professionals

8. Painful Versus Painless Cost Control

9. Mechanisms for Controlling Costs

10. Quality of Health Care

11. Prevention of Illness

12. Long-Term Care

13. Medical Ethics and Rationing of Health Care

14. Health Care in Four Nations

15. Health Care Reform and National Health Insurance

16. Conflict and Change in America’s Health Care System

17. Conclusion: Tensions and Challenges

18. Questions and Discussion Topics

Index